Cooking teenager enjoys making snacks & supper

By Published On: April 3, 2019

Tristen Patterson, 14, just thought it would be fun three years ago, when she started to cook.
She has two grandmothers, her Nana Wanda Patterson, and her Granny Janie York; her mother, Ginger York, and her dad, Daniel, helping her learn to cook.
Pinterest is her favorite place to look for recipes, and she and her dad talk a lot about things they find there that they want to try.
Her chocolate peanut butter ball recipe is one from Pinterest.
Tristen also enjoys talking about cooking and recipes with Mrs. Pat Beadle.
Granny’s Peanut Butter Bars is Janie’s recipe and Daniel said she used to make two pans at a time–one to stay home for him, and “one to go”.

Tristen started out cooking breakfast food, but she likes making snack food and cooking supper, like the burrito casserole, which is one of her favorites.
She hasn’t learned to use their Instapot yet, but Daniel says it was worth the money.
He makes chicken and rice, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes in it, both of which Tristen says she likes.
Tristen is not a picky eater, and she likes her dad’s spaghetti because he uses Italian sausage, and a cream cheese sauce.

He says the two of them do 90% of the cooking at their house, and both of them enjoy it.
And she doesn’t mind the grocery shopping part either.
“Tristen is very independent in the kitchen,” said Daniel.
She has made herself two cookbooks of recipes she wants to try– “one for desserts, and one for food.”
She recently made a blueberry cheesecake. She and her dad said it was really good, but time consuming.
And she said it was the hardest thing she’s made so far.

Easy Baked Burrito Casserole
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 pack taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pack large flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
Preheat oven to 350°. In large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until beef is no longer pink. Drain all grease. Add taco seasoning and beans, and let cook through. In separate bowl, mix mushroom soup with sour cream. Spread half of soup mixture in bottom of casserole dish. Add layer of 3 tortillas to top of soup mixture. Spread layer of ground beef mixture and sprinkle cheese on top of ground beef. Repeat all layers and top with cheese. Bake about 20 minutes or until cheese is good and melted.

Granny’s Peanut Butter Bars
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
Mix all together. Pour in baking dish or cake pan.
Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
12 oz. bag chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. shortening
Line cookie sheet pan with wax paper. Mix peanut butter at room temperature, then butter and vanilla together in large bowl. Slowly add one cup powdered sugar to form creamy mixture. Mix well each time. By the time you get the third cup of powdered sugar, mixture will be very hard to stir with spoon. Make sure all of it is stirred really well with your hands. Once all powdered sugar is mixed up well into peanut butter, start making peanut butter balls. When all are made, place them onto wax paper. Melt chocolate. After it is melted add 3 Tbsp. shortening to pan. This will make chocolate slicker. Once you have dipped all the peanut butter balls into chocolate, put them into freezer about 20 minutes or until the chocolate is hard.

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